Many gunite/marcite/concrete
swimming pool builders have complained about me and my website to this
swimming pool repair company that repairs gunite/marcite/concrete pools and
have asked them to move their page so I have a broken link on my website.
Because the constant moving of this page and causing me to have broken links
and losing search engine ranking, the information is listed here. The
wording is just as it appears in their swimming pool coatings and repair web
site.

The information, I believe is very useful in determining what type of
pool to install, and it lets people really see what is involved in owning
and opperating a gunite/marcite/concrete swimming pool.

I would love to link you directly to their site but the
page keeps getting moved.

Not while you have a new
plaster finish on your pool (ie. your pool is less than 3 years old).
Your smooth bright plaster should give you yeoman service for a few
years before staining and surface deterioration become noticeable.

However, if you own a plaster
pool that is 3 years old or older, and the plaster is getting rough,
painting with SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer will eliminate further chemical
deterioration of the aging plaster surface. Also, our sealer will reduce
staining, acid damage, water/frost penetration and prevent bather
abrasion. With SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer, you will save money and protect
your initial investment.

If you've heard you should never have to “paint” plaster, consider
this:

Consider the cost!
When you paint your worn plaster, you'll eventually repaint (in 4-5
years)! Hovever, if you don't paint, you will definitely have to
replaster! Considering that the cost of replastering far outweighs
painting (by thousands of dollars), you may want to rethink that “no
paint” advice.

Consider your pool
structure! When your pool was built, the raw concrete shell and
plaster cured together forming an exceptionally strong bond. When
replastering, that bond can only be imitated-never duplicated,
that is why in replastered pools one often sees spalling (plaster
separation and lifting). Why not preserve the original plaster, rather
than replicate it? Why surrender the initial strong bond for one of
questionable strength? Use SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer now!

Consider the job!
Replastering requires the removal or roughening of old plaster to
enhance the bond of the fresh plaster. This means costly sandblasting
and/or chopping the old plaster-a large and dirty job. The
replastering must be done by a skilled professional mason. Painting
requires: 1. a sound masonry surface that is free of dirt and oils. 2.
an open-faced granular texture on the plaster. 3. a thoroughly dry
surface. Anyone with common sense can pick up a roller and
successfully paint a plaster pool with SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer.

Consider your plaster!
When it is new, your plaster is smooth, bright and beautiful. As it
ages, the surface will roughen (scraped knees, elbows and toes will be
a common complaint). The plaster will stain and each acid cleaning
will cause the surface to roughen more. Now is the time to protect
your plaster with SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer! If you do not protect your
plaster soon after this deterioration has begun, it will progress
through the entire plaster and you will be forced to undertake costly
replastering. Think of rust and steel: Rust on the surface can be
removed and the steel can be protected with paint. Rust throughout the
steel panel cannot be repaired-the whole panel must be removed and
replaced. Save your plaster with SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer before it is
too late!

Consider SAU-SEA Plaster
Sealer! Not just an ordinary swimming pool paint, but rather a
specialized hybrid coating designed to suit the maintenance needs of
the plaster surface on your pool. It offers the benefits of paint
technology (by offering an insulative protective barrier) coupled with
the benefits of sealer technology (by providing a penetrative moisture
barrier) for the plaster finish of your pool. SAU-SEA Plaster Sealer
puts a high-gloss finish on your plaster that resists water, acid,
stains and dirt!

Gradually your SAU-SEA finish
will lose its gloss. As the gloss diminishes, so proportionately will
staining increase. Eventually, your pool finish will start to look dingy
or dirty. That is when you need to apply a single refresher coat of the
same color and type. In a residential pool, SAU-SEA products are
normally recoated every 3-5 years. In commercial service, semi-annual
recoating is normal due to heavy chlorine use (usually daily/weekly
super chlorination).

Hint#1: Always allow the
paint to dry completely before you start to fill your pool.
Premature filling results in premature aging of the coating and loss
of gloss. Remember: SAU-SEA Coatings and Enamels are dry to the touch
in 1 hour, however they are not fully dry! SAU-SEA Enamels and
Coatings are odorless when dry. Do not destroy your gloss by filling
too soon!

Hint#2: Maintaining proper
balance of your pool water and judicious use of your chemical
sanitizers (particularly chlorine which is a powerful oxidizing agent)
will prolong the service life of your pool paint finish (as well as
the service life of your other pool equipment). For example, paint and
products in a pool run at .5 ppm of Free Chlorine will last 6 times as
long as the same products used in a pool run a 3.0 ppm Free Chlorine.

Well, first of all, our swimming pool paints range in price from about
$80 to $100 a gallon. This is because SAU-SEA makes only top-quality
swimming pool paint.

Keep in mind that premium exterior house paints (which are less
expensive to manufacture than pool paints) cost $95 to $105 per gallon.
They do not require the costly ingredients needed to tolerate swimming
pool conditions, i.e., the long-term submersion, extreme exposure to
chlorine and acid, continued exposure to sunlight and damaging UV rays,
continued weathering from rain, wind and ice, etc.

With SAU-SEA, realize that you are buying the "Rolls Royce" of swimming
pool paints. Each gallon of paint contains pounds of protective resins
(not ounces). We use the best grade of titanium available (the same
high, hard-grade type that is used in automotive and appliance
finishes). We don't skimp on quality.

Of course, you can buy lesser-quality brands elsewhere, ones made with
an ounce or two of resin and a very soft (very cheap) grade of titanium
- paints full of lots of sand (silica) and clay to make them thick and
creamy. These lesser paints usually have a semi-gloss or flat finish -
one that stains very quickly and fails (chalks and powders) readily.
Yes, you can buy pool paint for less, but remember:

While you may not always "get what you pay for", you will surely not get
what you don't pay for. What's worse, if you buy a "cheap" pool paint
and it fails (which it will), you can't return it to a store (like a
poor quality pump or filter). Even if you could "get your money back",
you're still stuck with the inferior product on your pool. Since each
coat of paint is the foundation for following coats, a poor quality pool
paint makes a very bad base for all future recoats. Thereafter, even if
you switch back to the best quality pool coatings, they may "fail" over
your poor quality, chalking, peeling or blistering old paints. In fact,
often the only real solution to having applied a poor quality swimming
pool paint is to have it removed (by expensive sandblasting). The, start
over (and stay with) a top-quality pool paint.

Does it follow, then, that if you pay top price for a swimming pool
paint that you'll get the best product available? Not necessarily!

Some paint manufacturers make lots of different kinds of paint (for
houses, boats, etc) and often, they'll "sub out" the manufacturing of a
specialty line (like pool paints) and just use their recognized
"brand-name" on "their" swimming pool paint. Some paint manufacturers
charge a high price for their pool paint to give the "illusion" of
quality, or, to make as much profit as "the market will bear."

So how do you, the pool owner, know if you are getting the top-quality
for which you paid good dollars?

Get saucy and bold! Trust SAU-SEA - a second generation, family-owned
and operated manufacturer of swimming pool paints EXCLUSIVELY! We make
swimming pool paints right - it's the only thing we do, its how we earn
our living. Pool owner satisfaction with SAU-SEA means customer loyalty
and repeat business - our future counts on this.

With over 100 years of cumulative experience in swimming pool paints,
we've seen it all. We know what works, why it works and how it works. We
can answer all your questions about pool paints (and other various pool
finishes) and give you honest and workable solutions that will help you
get the most out of the dollars you invest in your swimming pool
renovation project. Give us a call, give us a try - you'll be speaking
to us, not a corporate voice mail - call 1-800-4-SAUSEA today!